Back to Europe

Monday morning began with goodbyes as we all made our way back to the airport to head to Belgium.  We were delayed because of the cold weather and ice on the wings of the plane. We were quite worried about missing our connecting flight since we only had 45 minutes. While we were stressing, we met the kindest flight attendant who laughed and talked with us the entire flight. When we landed she held the passengers on the plane to allow us to run to our next flight to Madrid. Even with her help, we missed our flight.  We were rerouted on a later flight through London and then on to Brussels.

There are several aspects of UWP that I find carry into my everyday life. For example, there is an UWP syndrome that I like to call "follow the leader."  We often find ourselves following whoever is in the front of the group. More often than not, the person in the front has no clue where we are going, yet we still follow them like a heard of wandering sheep.  As we walked off the plane, we just began walking and following the crowd, like we so often do.  However, this crowd took us to customs and border patrol. Once we arrived to the line of customs, we still continued following the crowd and waited in line until it was my turn to speak with the patrol officer. When I realized I did not have any customs forms and that I was not entering into London, we had to laugh at ourselves and find our way back to connecting flights. After a long and entertaining travel day, we finally arrived in Brussels where we then took a train to meet our host families for the week.

I was roomed with Daniel, from Mexico, and we had three young host siblings.  One of the best parts of staying with my host family was that they grew their own organic food and best of all, they had a peacock!  

After a restful night, I arrived Wednesday morning for a Community Impact day.  I spent the morning at an organization that helps poorer families find a way to sustain themselves.  With some of the families, I learned some Belgian country dances.  It was a fun morning of interacting with the families and sharing our cultures with one another.

In the afternoon, some of us went to a music school to interact with the children.  After singing with them, we all went on a long walk together around a beautiful lake in the forest.  

Thursday was an internal day with the cast.  Larissa and I spent time with Ken, our Associate Producer and Choreographer, learning the movement to some of the music in our Mexican medley while we were back in Denver.  For part of the day, Larissa and I helped teach the movement to the cast to help us get ready for our transition to Mexico in a couple weeks.  

Friday was our first show in Mol, Belgium.  It was a special night because I had dear friends come to the show, Tineke, Mark, Jolien, and Lander.  Three years ago, I backpacked through Europe and stayed for a week with family friends in Belgium.  I have kept in touch with them over the past few years and they came to the show in Mol.  It was so great to see them again and after the show, I went home to spend a few days with them.  

Saturday was a host family day so, after sleeping in for a few hours, Lander and I biked with his mom, Tineke, to the market to get some groceries.  After going to the market, Lander and I biked from his house 45 minutes to spend the afternoon exploring Antwerp.  Lander and I had a blast walking around the city looking at all the historic sites and beautiful buildings.  For lunch, Lander and I had Belgian fries, which were delicious.  After lunch, we walked down the big shopping street looking at all the shops.  

When we arrived home, we had a big dinner with some good Belgian beer.  Once we were done eating, we just sat on the couch and talked for hours.  I felt like I was right at home with family.  It was so special to get to stay with them again, even if it was for such a short time.  I look forward to the next visit with them in the future.  

Sunday morning, Tineke, Mark, and Lander took me back to our show facility for another show.  It was tough to say goodbye, but it won't be long before I see them again.  

Back to the U.S.

On Monday, I had an extremely long travel day back to the United States.  I was given a special opportunity that required me to fly to America for the week and then fly back to Belgium.  Along with three other students; Brekken from Wyoming, Larissa from New Hampshire and, Beyah from Arizona, we were sent to Denver to perform at the 2nd Annual Up with People Gala, which is a huge fundraiser for the Global Scholarship fund.  Monday morning we began our travel to the United States via London.  As we were five minutes from landing in Denver, I noticed it still looked like we were in the clouds.  Even as the clock said we were landing, I was confused because I could not see the ground.  All of the sudden, I felt a bump and then heard the pilot say "Welcome to Denver."  It was then that I realized we had landed in a horrible blizzard where I could not even see the ground from the landed plane.  What a great way to be welcomed back into the States.

I had known that I would be flying to Denver for four weeks and I did not tell my parents about it because they would be coming to the Gala and I wanted to surprise them.  I stayed with my host family from staging last semester, Bruce and Linda Erley, who are very dear family friends.  It was so nice to be back in their home again after so long.

For the first time in four months, I had the chance to sleep in until noon.  Unfortunately, my body decided to wake up every few hours starting at 3am.  Once I was up for the day, we headed to the Up with People office.  After multiple hugs and hellos, we began rehearsing and preparing for the gala.  Beyah, Larissa, and I dance in the show so, we worked with Ken, our Associate Producer and Choreographer on some of the dances we would be doing for the gala performance.  We spent all afternoon rehearsing until the evening when everyone else arrived for rehearsal.  The four of us were brought home to be part of a larger cast made up of UWP alumni from around the Denver area.  All 20 of us spent the first night learning the vocals to all the songs we would be singing.  The four of us knew most of the music since a lot of it was from our current show.  However, we also had the chance to learn some new songs too.

Wednesday, after another restless night, we headed into the office after lunch to start loading the truck with the equipment for the show.  Even after traveling for eight months, I have only been signed out to help with setting up or striking the equipment once during these eight months.  That meant I still had no idea what to do with any of our equipment.  Luckily, Jeramy, our Technical Operations Manager, took the time to help teach me about our equipment and how to load our truck in the most efficient way.  I had a blast working with the equipment and getting it ready to unload a few days later at our show facility.  That evening, we met with the rest of the cast to work on cast movement and continue working on perfecting details with some of the dances we would be doing.

Thursday morning, I woke up and spent the morning making a snowman with Linda, my host mom.  I had not made a snowman since I was a little boy, and Linda and I had a blast rolling balls of snow and walking through the yard to find the perfect sticks and rocks to make the eyes and hands.  After lunch we headed to the office to begin another day of preparations.  Thursday was the day of the big surprise when my parents arrived to Denver.  They were scheduled to arrive at the UWP office for a meeting at 2pm.  I sat at the reception desk in my newly purchased Austrian hat with my head down pretending to be working.  As they walked into the office, I popped my head up and said in an enthusiastic voice, "Good afternoon, welcome to the Up with People office.  How may I help you?"  The only thing I remember is the high pitched shrill from my mother right before she burst into tears.  It was the perfect surprise and my parents where thrilled because my brother and I would have the opportunity to perform on the same stage together at the gala.  We spend the rest of the afternoon preparing the specialty costumes that everyone would wear for the show.

After dinner, we had a stop and go run-through of the show.  Even after only two rehearsals, the show was coming together quickly.

Friday morning, we began loading the rest of the equipment into the truck and after lunch we headed to the Denver Marriott to unload.  Once the equipment was unloaded, we began setting up the stage.  In all my time as a student, I had never set up our stage and I guess it is never too late to learn how it all works.  It is always magnificent to see the magic of the stage, lights, band, and curtains come together to create a the scene of a rock concert.

Saturday morning began at 8am to finish setting up the stage.  In the middle of the morning, Kirsten, my best friend growing up, arrived to watch me perform at the gala.  We got to spend some time in the morning catching up and hanging out.  However, like every other show day, come 1 o'clock, we began our rehearsal.

Once we finished rehearsal, it was time to get ready for the show.  Before the show started, I had the chance to see many dear family friends who traveled with my parents.  I also had the opportunity to speak with J. Blanton Belk and his wife Betty who is the founder of Up with People.

The energy during the show was like nothing I had experienced yet during my travels in UWP.  There is something special about performing for alumni that just takes the energy to an unparalleled level.  After the entertainment portion of the gala, we had the chance to sit and listen to the speaker, Eugene Cernan, who was the last astronaut to walk on the moon.  Captain Cernan and Blanton Belk are very good friends and it was so incredible to listen to the two reminisce about their passion for UWP.  One thing that really stuck with me from Captain Cernan was what he said about dreamers.  He said, "The dreamers of today can become the doers of tomorrow."  It was an out of body experience to listen to a man who has seen the world from such a distance where visible borders no longer exist talking about hope for the future.  We ended the show with one final song called "Moon Rider," which was written about Captain Cernan's experiences in space and how he saw the "world without and borders."  I was so grateful I had the opportunity to have such a treasured experience with performing for our founder Mr. Belk, Captain Cernan, and sharing the stage with my brother, who played the drums.

Sunday we spent the day at the mall stocking up on more toiletries and clothes to take back with me to Europe.  It was a very relaxing day hanging out with Kirsten and my family.  I was very thankful for having the chance to enjoy time with family and friends.  It was a very special and memorable week.  

Into the Alps

On Monday morning we made our way back across Switzerland and crossed the boarder into Liechtenstein.  Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world and only has a population of 38,000 people.  When we arrived into the country we were dropped off at a bus stop and had to take all of our carry-ons with us.  We were having an "Amazing Race" competition.  Since the country is so small, we had to make our way to our host-pickup site in Vaduz.  We were divided into teams and then we were off.  We were given different places to see and things to do as we made our way into the city.  Liechtenstein has a royal family that lives in a medieval castle on a mountain that overlooks the entire city.  So, we obviously made our way slowly up the huge mountain to look at the castle.  As we were admiring the beautiful castle, and catching our breath, we watched the princess and her children drive into the castle.  I thought about going up to the front door to say hello, but I was not sure if strangers were allowed near the castle doors.

After the hike up the mountain, we were too exhausted to go anywhere else so, we went souvenir shopping and sat down to eat.  We made it back in time for our allocation meeting.  I was hosted alone for the week with a kind man and his girlfriend in a beautiful apartment that was surrounded by the Alps.  I was even blessed to have my own piano in my bedroom.

Tuesday was a full day of internal time with the cast.  In the morning we listened to a fascinating presentation by four of our cast mates on gender roles.  The presentation really got us thinking about how we perceive others and helped us to think in a more open-minded way.  Following the presentation, we had a country transition presentation where we learned all about the Netherlands and what to expect for the next week.

In the afternoon we learned how to answer questions about Up with People when being interviewed as well as how to give a brief overview of Up with People and what we do if we only have a short time to explain the program.  It was a very educational and enjoyable internal day.

That evening I took a long bike ride through the beautiful Alps along the Rhine River as the sun was setting.  It was a moment where I could not believe how lucky I was to see such beauty.

Wednesday and Thursday were Community Impact days.  I worked with eight other cast mates for the two days and we were asked to put workshops together for a group of 40 children as well as teach them a few songs and dances that they would perform for their families on Thursday evening.  It was an extremely exhausting two days with all the fun games we played together and all the running around.  It was also very difficult to teach the children songs and dances because very few of them spoke English. However, in two days time, the children learned two dances and were able to sing "Up with People."  As we were practicing for their show on Thursday night, I walked into the room where the children were practicing on stage.  I walked into the room and saw all the children holding hands and singing "Up, up with people, you meet them wherever you go."  It was a moment where I had to stop and realize how blessed I was to work with children in Liechtenstein and help them see the world in a different way.  

Thursday and Friday were show days, both of which were fantastic shows.  Both shows were almost sold out and the audiences loved the show.  My host mom was so happy to see such a positive and enthusiastic response from the audience because she said it was very uncommon for the people of Liechtenstein to show so much enthusiasm and liveliness during a performance.

Saturday was a special day because it was cast appreciation.  It was a day for the staff to appreciate us as a cast so, they spent all day making sure that we felt their love and appreciation.

Sunday was host family day and my family took me hiking in the Alps.  For the past four weeks, it has been very cloudy and cool while we have been in Europe.  However, when I woke up Sunday morning, there was not a cloud in the sky and it was 75 degrees outside.  It was the most perfect day to go hiking.  I wore my shorts and a long-sleeve shirt and we headed on the trail.  I could not believe we were hiking through snow and I was in my shorts.  We kept hiking higher and higher and the view became more breath-taking and beautiful.  My host dad wanted to take me up to the peak of one of the mountains so, he and I continued to go up.  We got to a point where I questioned the safety of my efforts to get to the peak because of all the snow on a very steep hill.  However, when I remember that I do not get to hike the Alps every day, nor do I get to witness such beauty as often, I had to risk it.  I made it to the very top and as a reward for my efforts, I got to sign a book with the names of everyone else who had made the trek to the top.  I remember standing on the peak and looking at all the Alps around and taking a mental image.  I closed my eyes and felt the sun warming my skin and the cool, crisp air brush my face.  I heard the snow crunch underneath my feet and I could smell the fresh scent of the pine trees below me.  It was a moment that I will never forget and a memory that I will always be grateful to have experienced.

It was the perfect way to end my unforgettable week in Vaduz.